Tuesday, April 12

Jesus said, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24

Theme for the Day: Spiritual Disciplines for Disciples

Jesus tells his disciples that the source of good and evil in human life is the human heart.  He called the people to him again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him." And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person (Mark 7:14-23).

Jesus correctly diagnoses the human condition. He tells his disciples the truth about who they are and what they have to deal with in their lives. It is the disciple’s responsibility to deal with this reality and grow in grace. What does growing in grace look like? One example: we are called to step out of anger and contempt through the help of the Holy Spirit in our lives. By doing this we transform ourselves and the church as well as others who learn from us. We are called to quit cultivating lust and covetousness, giving Satan no foothold in our churches and in our society. We are called to let our yes be a yes, putting the brakes on backsliding in which we Christians look no different from the rest of the world. We are called to bless people who curse us, reflecting Jesus on the cross, and to love not only our neighbors as ourselves but our enemies as well.

As disciples, part of our growth plan under grace is to select activities, or disciplines, to help grow us. A discipline is something that a disciple can do to enable himself to do what he cannot do by direct effort. These are Holy Spirit-driven activities and are therefore means of grace. (It is actually the Holy Spirit working in us that changes us.) The disciplines of prayer, study, worship, and giving grow us as followers of Jesus. There are many disciplines we can undertake and need to undertake as we grow in grace. Not to plan to grow in grace is to plan to stay where you are as a spiritual milk drinker instead of becoming a meat eater.

Spiritual disciplines are not works of righteousness but participation in divine wisdom that produce the fruit of righteousness in us, changing us and the world. Praying to God, reading and meditating on God’s word, worshipping God, and giving to God through the church are four basic spiritual practices for all disciples. There are also others that grow us in new ways.

Practicing Solitude: •Solitude is the choice and practice of being alone, set apart from the stresses and strain of everyday life, and choosing to be with God. We learn this discipline from Jesus, who went away by himself to be with his father. In solitude we are quiet before God, not talking endlessly to him but speaking first and then listening to him. Practicing solitude is analogous to going to the doctor for a checkup and then listening to what the doctor has discovered. Foolish is the person who goes for a doctor’s visit and then leaves before hearing the diagnosis, but how often we fail to take the time to be alone with God and listen to him.

Having a Sabbath Rest: Many people work tirelessly at paying and non-paying jobs. Busyness is part of the fabric of American contemporary culture. We can even be busy doing nothing worthwhile. Keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments, commandments that did not come to an end with the inauguration of the New Covenant! To have a Sabbath rest is not only to worship the Lord on Sunday, but is to set that day and time apart to honor him and re-center our lives around him and with our families. The Sabbath is a time to acknowledge and rest in the peace Jesus provides us.

Fasting: Fasting is feasting upon God, being nourished by God, instead of by something else. During Lent many practice fasting from food or activities, but giving up something isn’t the purpose of fasting unless one uses that opportunity to feast upon God. Instead of eating lunch on Friday, one might spend that time in prayer or meditating on the Psalms.

Practicing Frugality: We live in the wealthiest country history has ever known, having more material possessions than any people has had. Living beneath our means keeps us from using money or goods at our disposal in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, glamour, or luxury. Instead we can use those resources for God’s purposes rather than to satisfy our own wants. Undertaking this discipline helps us to remember we serve or don’t serve God as stewards of the possessions with which he has entrusted us.

Memorizing Scripture: Unfortunately memorization is not a popular discipline today. Its advantage is to have the promises of God at our fingertips and upon our lips for immediate use! Jesus made full use of the fruit of memorization when confronted by Satan in the wilderness. He quoted passages from Deuteronomy to blunt Satan’s attack. Countless Christians have memorized the 23^rd Psalm to help bring them comfort in times of crisis and grief.

How do we practice these disciplines? Decide to live as a follower of Jesus who studies him and how he lived. Begin to obey his teachings, observing where and why you fail. And ask the Spirit to remove the causes of failure and help you to rely on him and not your own strength. A disciple of Jesus lives by the Spirit:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25).

Some disciplines (from Dallas Willard) to consider:

Disciplines of Abstinence	Disciplines of Engagement
Solitude	Study
Silence	Worship
Fasting	Celebration
Frugality	Service
Chastity	Prayer
Secrecy	Fellowship
Sacrifice	Confession
Watching	Submission

Self-examination, repentance, prayer, and worship:

Before you pray, take some time to reflect on your sins. Perhaps there is one in particular about which you are concerned. Tell the Lord you are sorry, ask him to help you stop this sin, and then pray a prayer like the following:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; in your great compassion blot out my offenses. Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions only too well, and my sin is ever before me. Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Spend further time in prayer and worship before studying the Gospel of John below.

Study: John 11:17-44, I Am the Resurrection and the Life

 ¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." ²³Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." ²⁴ Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." ²⁵Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" ²⁷She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."

Jesus Weeps

 ²⁸When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." ²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" ³⁷But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"

Jesus Raises Lazarus

 ³⁸Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." ⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Reflection Questions:

1)  Why do you think Jesus wept?

2) This is the seventh and final miracle in the Gospel of John, unless one counts Jesus’ resurrection as miracle number eight! Why did Jesus perform this miracle? (Notice, as you read the rest of John, how Jesus put Lazarus’ life in danger by bringing him back from the dead.)